A trial looking at follow up mammograms for women over 50 who have had breast cancer (Mammo-50)

Please note - this trial is no longer recruiting patients. We hope to add results when they are available.

Cancer type:

Breast cancer

Status:

Closed

Phase:

Phase 3

This trial is looking at follow up mammograms for women aged 50 years and over who have had breast cancer.

After you finish treatment for breast cancer, you have regular outpatient appointments to check how you are. You also have mammograms to check that your cancer hasn’t come back.

Guidelines recommend that women under 50 have mammograms every year after treatment for breast cancer. But doctors aren’t sure how often women over 50 should have them, or how long for. So practice in hospitals across the UK can vary for women in this age group.

Yearly mammograms can be costly for the health service as well as causing anxiety in some women. Some research suggests that women over 50 may be able to have fewer mammograms if they are followed up and supported in other ways.

The aims of this trial are to

Find out if having mammograms less frequently will be as good as yearly mammograms in women over 50

See if having fewer mammograms causes more (or less) anxiety for women

Learn more about other follow up methods (such as clinic appointments with a doctor or nurse, or telephone follow ups) to see how these affect a woman's quality of life

You also have the choice to take part in 3 different sub studies. If you don’t want to take part in these, you can still take part in the main trial. The sub studies are

Quality of life sub study
If you join this study, the researchers will ask you to fill out a questionnaire asking about long term side effects of treatment and how you feel about this.

Interview (qualitative research) sub study
If you join this study, you are asked to take part in an interview either on your own or as part of a group. A researcher will ask about your experiences, how you feel about your follow up appointments and how this service could be improved.

Tissue sub study
If you agree to take part in this study, the researchers will ask for a sample of your cancer that was removed when you had surgery. The researchers will test your cancer for certain characteristics and this sample may be used for future research.

The trial team will continue to collect information about your health for several years. They will do this through agencies such as the Office of National Statistics and Public Health.

Hospital visits

You go to hospital for your mammograms and for your interview (if you take part in the sub study). Depending on the practice of your local hospital and depending which group you are in, your appointments may be less, or more frequent than you would have had if you were not part of this trial.

You fill in the questionnaires during your hospital appointments. These take about 15 minutes.

Side effects

If you are in the group having yearly mammograms, you may have more mammograms than you would normally have had at your hospital. Each mammogram exposes you to a small amount of radiation. The extra exposure of more frequent mammograms is thought to be low.

Having a mammogram can be uncomfortable and can be painful for some women. This only usually lasts for a few minutes while you have the mammogram.

Having fewer, or more frequent mammograms could cause you anxiety.

Recruitment start:

01/04/2014

Recruitment end:

30/09/2018

How to join a clinical trial

Please note: In order to join a trial you will need to discuss it with your doctor, unless otherwise specified.

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